Floreana Island
Early in the morning we started the day with a touch of tradition. We arrived to the famous Post Office, where a barrel awaits with postcards from many visitors from around the world. We read the addresses and our guests take the ones that can be delivered personally, just like the whalers did it in the seventeen hundreds.
Floreana has quite a human history, both prior to 1832 when Ecuador claimed the archipelago, and afterwards. It is an island of both mystery and history. The visit of Charles Darwin in 1835, a great naturalist from England, changed forever the mentality of humankind.
Both the geology and the underwater realm make this island very special. Today we snorkeled with sea lions! Juveniles greeted us with enthusiasm and swirled around us sociably and playfully at Champion Islet. Later at Devil’s Crown, a snorkel outing for the more adventurous, we were rewarded with an incredible underwater experience. Several sea lions disputed ownership of a large yellow fin tuna, and the excitement attracted several white tipped reef sharks. All of this scrambling went on in very shallow, crystal clear water, right in front of the snorkelers! What an adventure!
On the afternoon walk we observed many greater flamingos. Our guests were surprised and pleased to find these, the pinkest of flamingoes, in the brackish lagoons of Galápagos. Our day is still not completely over yet…Islander’s hotel department serves our guests a barbecue dinner on the “sky deck” soon. After dessert our Expedition Leader has the officers turn out all the lights and we admire the billions of stars that shine above us. We learn about the celestial sphere and realize the advantage it is to be on the equator. We are able to see both northern and southern stars.
The expedition is coming to an end, but we still have a full day tomorrow. We are certain that more that excitement awaits us, as this is a wonderful place!
Early in the morning we started the day with a touch of tradition. We arrived to the famous Post Office, where a barrel awaits with postcards from many visitors from around the world. We read the addresses and our guests take the ones that can be delivered personally, just like the whalers did it in the seventeen hundreds.
Floreana has quite a human history, both prior to 1832 when Ecuador claimed the archipelago, and afterwards. It is an island of both mystery and history. The visit of Charles Darwin in 1835, a great naturalist from England, changed forever the mentality of humankind.
Both the geology and the underwater realm make this island very special. Today we snorkeled with sea lions! Juveniles greeted us with enthusiasm and swirled around us sociably and playfully at Champion Islet. Later at Devil’s Crown, a snorkel outing for the more adventurous, we were rewarded with an incredible underwater experience. Several sea lions disputed ownership of a large yellow fin tuna, and the excitement attracted several white tipped reef sharks. All of this scrambling went on in very shallow, crystal clear water, right in front of the snorkelers! What an adventure!
On the afternoon walk we observed many greater flamingos. Our guests were surprised and pleased to find these, the pinkest of flamingoes, in the brackish lagoons of Galápagos. Our day is still not completely over yet…Islander’s hotel department serves our guests a barbecue dinner on the “sky deck” soon. After dessert our Expedition Leader has the officers turn out all the lights and we admire the billions of stars that shine above us. We learn about the celestial sphere and realize the advantage it is to be on the equator. We are able to see both northern and southern stars.
The expedition is coming to an end, but we still have a full day tomorrow. We are certain that more that excitement awaits us, as this is a wonderful place!
